Land use:
arable land: 4.95%
permanent crops: 0.03%
other: 95.02% (2001)

Irrigated land:
220 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
frequent droughts; locust swarms

Environment - current issues:
deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of
infrastructure from civil warfare

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
strategic geopolitical position along world's busiest shipping
lanes; Eritrea retained the entire coastline of Ethiopia along the
Red Sea upon de jure independence from Ethiopia on 24 May 1993

People Eritrea

Population:
4,561,599 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 44.8% (male 1,023,898/female 1,019,389)
15-64 years: 51.9% (male 1,170,823/female 1,194,741)
65 years and over: 3.3% (male 74,312/female 78,436) (2005 est.)

Median age:
total: 17.54 years
male: 17.35 years
female: 17.73 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:
2.51% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:
38.62 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate:
13.53 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: UNHCR began repatriating about 150,000 Eritrean refugees from
Sudan in 2001 following the restoration of diplomatic relations
between the two countries in 2000 (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 74.87 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 82.28 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 67.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 58.47 years
male: 56.96 years
female: 60.02 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate:
5.61 children born/woman (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
2.7% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
60,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
6,300 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and
typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria is a high risk in some locations (2004)

Nationality:
noun: Eritrean(s)
adjective: Eritrean

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